The Movie Mistake Mystery from "Revenge of the Sith"

Summary

Movies are handmade, and just like any other art form, sometimes the seams that hold movies together become visible to the audience. For movie fans, these moments are very exciting. Catching a glimpse behind the scenes is an exhilarating experience. My favorite kind of “movie mistake” is the kind that is hiding in plain sight... but the casual viewer missed it upon first viewing. Or perhaps even the second viewing, or even the third. I’m particularly obsessed with moments that reveal the craft and artistry of the magic trick of a shot that slightly shatters the illusion of cinema. These revealing moments have been in movies since the dawn of cinema, and are everywhere (if you know exactly where to look).One of my favorite films of all time also has one of the funniest revealing mistakes I've seen. Edward Zwick's "Glory" (1989) takes place during the American Civil War, and this scene has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reminder of the film's very modern production:Because the audiences' eyes are firmly fixed on Morgan Freeman's character in the center of frame, very few will ever pick up the little kid with the extremely modern wristwatch that enters frame on far screen right. Sometimes the on-set teams that work with featured extras—as well as the costume department that dress the extras—will occasionally miss a modern piece of jewelry on an actor.Here's a fun one from Martin Scorsese's masterpiece "Goodfellas" (1990), in one of the closing shots of a nail-bitingly tense scene where Karen nearly walks into an ambush:The period-appropriate "movie" license plate dramatically dangles then completely falls off the car in the middle of the take, revealing the actual 1990-era license plate of the car used for the scene. This is an accidental and hilarious glimpse into the detailed hard work that goes into making a Hollywood period piece (this portion of the film takes place in 1980), where every license plate of every car in the movie needed special, detailed work to make the...